


Last Kiss

by Jcapasso916



Category: Supernatural
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-11
Updated: 2016-05-15
Packaged: 2018-06-07 21:21:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 16,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6824815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jcapasso916/pseuds/Jcapasso916
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gabriel doesn't want to die with any regrets so he gets one last kiss from his heart's desire.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So my novel is finished! Yay! It's called Loki's Playhouse and is up on Amazon if anyone wants to check it out. The kindle version is available now and the print version will be available within the next week. Needless to say I'll be back to fanfic, but gimme a couple days to really get back into the swing of things again lol.

“Can’t or won’t?” Those parting words from Dean were left echoing in Gabriel’s ears as the sullen archangel sat in the Impala trying to figure out what to do next. Where to go from here. He wanted to protect them. To save them. The fact that he was here in the first place proved that, but how far was he willing to go? 

Gabriel’s unneccesary heart stopped beating as he watched his older brother walk into that hotel and he closed his eyes and rested his forehead on the back of the seat in front of him, taking shaky breaths. It didn’t take him long, now that a decision was needed, to realize that there was only one answer. He was willing to go all the way. He would die for Sam Winchester. 

He managed to arrive in the ballroom without his brother noticing just in time to hear someone say, “you okay?” 

Despite knowing that the question wasn’t meant for him, he answered it anyway. “Not really,” he said wryly, drawing their attention. Their surprised and slightly awed looks made him more than a little uncomfortable so he looked away and gave a little shrug. “Better late than never huh?” 

Gabriel’s look of nervousness and fear hardened into one of determination when he saw Sam looking hopefully at him. Like he wasn’t sure if Gabriel was here to save them or not but hoping that he was. Gabriel pressed the dvd into Dean’s chest, “Guard this with your life,” he said. He wasn’t about to die for nothing, even if the something was a complete hail mary. He started to head out to confront his brother, but paused a moment before turning back and, quick as lightning, grabbing the front of Sam’s shirt and pulling him into a searing kiss, right over top of Dean. 

Both Winchesters were frozen in shock for a good ten seconds, though instinct had Sam kissing Gabriel back, and it was the best ten seconds of the archangel’s existence. Right up until he heard a very indignant, “What the hell dude?!” from the other Winchester wedged between them. 

Gabriel reluctantly pulled back, rather enjoying the dazed look on the younger hunter’s face and gave a smug grin. “Had to make my last kiss mean something. No regrets and all that,” he followed up with a wink at Sam as he spun out to meet his brother with no more hesitation. If he had to die, there would be no better time to do it. And after what he had just done, he was sure he had to die. If not by Lucifer’s hand, then by the Winchesters’. Challenging the all too blatantly false heterosexuality of the hunters was a good way to end up shishkabobbed, not to mention having it challenged by someone they hated and only tolerated when they had no other choice. He had known when he’d done it that Sam would never forgive him for the Mystery Spot. That was why it pissed him off so much when it didn’t work. He had thrown away any chance he could ever have had to be happy and it didn’t even work. If he couldn’t have Sam, then he could die for him.

Gabriel threw Lucifer out the door and helped Kali to her feet. “Guys! Get her out of here!” he called. He needed to get them, especially Sam, as far away as possible as fast as possible and as long as they were bound to Kali, she had to go with them. He just couldn’t focus with Sam in the same room with Lucifer and if he was going to give them time to get away, then he needed to be able to focus. 

Gabriel kept himself positioned between the hunters and the devil, keeping his blade raised in full defensive posture. He felt a gentle hand on his lower back and glanced back to see Sam looking at him curiously, but before the hunter could open his mouth to say anything, Gabriel’s expression hardened a fraction and he gave an almost imperceptible shake of his head and no more words were said as the hunters and goddess scampered away. 

“Over a girl, Gabriel. Really?” Lucifer taunted. “I knew you were slumming it, but I hope you didn’t catch anything.” 

Gabriel just let a hint of a smirk through. If only his brother knew who he was really doing this for. But that would get him killed far too quickly. He needed to stall for time. He did everything he could to give them as much time to get away as possible before he had to make his move. Like he had expected, though, Lucifer had been waiting for him to make the move and wasted no time in dispatching him. Gabriel would have been offended at the ease in which Lucifer just swatted him like a fly if he hadn’t been so busy dying. 

 

Sam sat in the passenger seat of the Impala as they drove away from the hotel. He still hadn’t managed to utter a word since Gabriel had kissed him. He didn’t notice the distance they put between them and the hotel. He didn’t notice the goddess disappearing from the backseat, leaving the two vials of blood behind. He didn’t notice his brother watching him like he was a ticking time bomb. Eventually though, Dean couldn’t take it anymore. “What the hell was all that?” he asked. 

That startled Sam out of his thoughts and he turned to look at Dean. “I have no idea,” Sam said honestly. He just kept turning Gabriel’s words over in his head about wanting no regrets and making his last kiss mean something. He wished Gabriel would have clued him in on what it was supposed to mean. Contrary to the archangel’s belief, Sam had forgiven him for mystery spot as soon as he’d realized what Gabriel had been trying to do and nothing else that Gabriel had done to them had been all that bad. Sam could even see the humor in some of it. But what did it mean? And what did it mean that he hadn’t been completely repulsed by that kiss? “We have to go back Dean,” Sam said after a long moment. 

“Are you freaking kidding me?” Dean asked incredulously. “Why would we go back?”

“Because in case you didn’t realize it, Gabriel’s blade is the only thing we can possibly get our hands on that can kill Lucifer.”

“Son of a bitch,” Dean said slamming his hands on the steering wheel and turning around. He knew the chances that Lucifer had left it behind were slim to none, but he wasn’t discounting the chance of the trickster archangel stashing it somewhere for them. He knew that Gabriel had stepped out there expecting to die and he might have left them another way. 

 

They stepped into the ballroom to see Gabriel lying in the ash of his wings and they both looked away. They just couldn’t bear to look at the body of yet another being who had sacrificed himself for them. They spent some time looking around for tricksterish hiding places before Dean remembered the dvd that Gabriel had given him. They went back out to the car to get Sam’s laptop and watch it. 

Well it wasn’t an archangel blade, but it was something reasonably helpful. When clothes started coming off, Sam slammed the laptop closed. He steadfastly refused to recognize that churning feeling in his gut as jealousy and decided that it was just disgust. It’s not like he actually wanted to see Gabriel naked. The image in his head seemed to belie that, just the back of the one shoulder that he had gotten a glimpse of with the rolling muscles as he started to strip off the shirt seemed to be seared in there, but Sam swatted it away. “Should we…I don’t know…bury him or something?” he asked looking back towards the motel. 

Dean sighed. He really didn’t want to, but they should. I mean, the guy had died for them after all. That should earn him the bare minimum respect at least. They knew that angels weren’t big fans of the salt and burn idea for their vessels so they weren’t going to go there. 

Sam went to retrieve the archangel’s body while Dean started digging a hole behind the hotel. Sam was struck by how small Gabriel was. He had always been so full of life and energy that he seemed to fill a room, but now…he seemed so tiny and fragile. It was hard to believe that this body had housed one of the most powerful beings to ever exist. Sam set him down on the ground and helped Dean dig and they buried Gabriel right there in the lawn behind the hotel where he died. They had too much to do for Sam to dwell on it or try to figure out what he was feeling about this whole thing right now, so he did his best to push it away and keep his head in the game. They had two more horsemen to get and then they had to shove the devil back in the hole. It wouldn’t be easy, but they would do it. For everyone that Lucifer had killed. For Ellen and Jo, and now for Gabriel, they would succeed. They had to.


	2. Chapter 2

Sam had a difficult time sleeping that night. His mind just kept running in circles. He couldn’t get the fact that Gabriel had sacrificed his life for them out of his head. He had been too dazed from that kiss to notice at the time, but the way Gabriel had said his ‘last kiss’ and not wanting any regrets made it obvious that he had been walking to his death. Part of Sam was glad that he hadn’t realized it at the time. It would have made it so much harder to leave, but he knew that it was necessary. Gabriel had set his path the moment he appeared in that ballroom after Lucifer. All it would have served for Sam to stick around was make it for nothing. 

Sam wasn’t a fool. He had enough pieces of the puzzle to get the picture, but it still didn’t make sense. Gabriel wanted Sam to be his last kiss and didn’t want to have any regrets before he unflinchingly sacrificed himself to let them escape. Gabriel had apparently been in love with him, but how? And why? Sam was just lying there in bed staring at the ceiling when another thought came to him. Or did Gabriel just want him to think that? Had it all been a trick? He was a trickster after all. But what purpose would it serve? Maybe to humiliate him? But that death hadn’t been fake. At least Sam didn’t think so. He barely suppressed the almost amused sound when he realized that he was familiar enough with Gabriel’s fake deaths to know that he’d never left the wings. Or a body once everyone was gone. 

That’s when it really struck the hunter. Gabriel was gone. And he wasn’t coming back this time. There would be no waking up in a game show or time loops. He would never see that amused smirk that always seemed one step away from laughter. He would never see those golden eyes lit up with mischief. He would never hear that ringing laugh that just infected everyone around him with either dread or mirth depending on the tone. Gabriel was dead. And it was his fault. He had caused the death of the only halfway decent archangel there was. Sam wiped the moisture from his face and rolled over, facing away from his brother. Dean was sleeping but the last thing he needed was for his brother to wake up and see him crying. Especially over Gabriel. 

Why hadn’t Gabriel ever said anything? Given Sam some indication of how he felt before it was too late? The hunter had no idea what he would have done about it. How he even felt about Gabriel, but it would have been nice to have a choice. To have a chance. Even just knowing that something so pure and good as an archangel could see anything redeeming in him could have made all the difference. He knew now though. And he was going to do whatever he had to do to make sure that Gabriel hadn’t died in vain. He was going to put Lucifer back in that cage and lock the door forever. For Gabriel. For the life they might have had had they been given half a chance. 

 

Sam did his best to put Gabriel and that kiss out of his mind after that, but he didn’t succeed very well. He managed well enough during the day, but at night, when he was lying in bed, chasing the ever elusive sleep, his mind whirled with thoughts of the archangel. Every moment he had ever been in Gabriel’s presence was in a feedback loop in his mind. He noticed how every time Gabriel didn’t want to do something, he would look Sam right in the eye before visibly deflating and agreeing. The first time had been mystery spot. Now that he was looking back on it, with a little more knowledge of Gabriel himself as well as what he was trying to do, he could almost see the pain in the trickster’s eyes at every turn. Gabriel hadn’t enjoyed that. He pretended to, but Sam would wager that it tore him apart just as much as it did Sam. 

By the time the day came for Sam to say yes to the devil and jump in the hole, Sam realized that somehow he had fallen in love with the tetchy archangel too, and that just fueled his desire to carry out this suicidal plan. Gabriel wouldn’t have died for nothing. Sam would make his amends for getting him killed. When they realized that Lucifer knew what their plan was, Dean tried at the eleventh hour to talk him out of it, but Sam held firm. “So he knows. It doesn’t change anything,” Sam told his brother before turning to Lucifer and saying, “Yes.”

Sam felt the weight settle over his mind as the fallen archangel took over his body and he fought it with everything he had but he was still overcome. He saw Lucifer let Dean leave as promised and only once they were alone did the devil start rummaging through Sam’s head. It didn’t take him long at all to realize just how his vessel had felt about his baby brother. “So you fell for little Gabriel did you?” he sneered. “Didn’t I tell you? You’re mine Sam and I will never let anyone take you away from me.”

Sam renewed his fight at those words. He could handle most anything that the evil archangel could dish out, but using Gabriel’s memory against him was the last straw. The next day and a half was essentially a replay of every moment Sam spent with Gabriel, much like his mind had been doing for months, but this time with commentary from Satan. “Aww look at him flirting away. Baby brother always was a flirt. You think he knew then that you were going to get him killed?” he commented on their first meeting.

Lucifer took great pleasure in replaying that last kiss between them. “How did it feel watching him go off to die for you Sam? Hmm? Did it make you feel powerful to know that your presence alone was enough to kill one of the great archangels?” Lucifer even managed to keep it up all while outside Sam’s mind he was confronting Michael and beating Dean. He was keeping Sam locked in these loops with their vicious commentary, but that last one gave him one last surge of rage. Enough to be able to at least catch a glimpse of what his body was doing. He saw Dean bloody and probably very near death, still telling Sam that he was here for him. Between wanting to save Dean and wanting to prove himself worthy of Gabriel’s sacrifice, that gave him the strength he needed to take control. 

He stumbled back a bit, in shock to be back in control of his own body. He reassured his brother that he had it before taking the rings and throwing them at the ground, opening the gaping maw. Just as he was about to jump in, Michael in Adam showed up to try to stop him. He said a silent prayer for his youngest brother and an apology to him, but grabbed him and pulled him over the edge as well. Cas had said that Jimmy’s soul went to heaven when he was blown up and he could only hope that Adam’s soul did the same when Cas blew him up. 

Sam wasn’t sure what he had been expecting, but some part of him had thought that the pain at least wouldn’t start until they got there, but as soon as they were in a free fall, he felt as if he were burning alive and being torn apart at the same time. It took him a while to realize that Lucifer had been torn forcibly from his body and was essentially a falling fireball next to him. It took a long while to reach the bottom and Sam couldn’t bear to open his eyes until Lucifer managed to collect himself enough to appear in a more recognizable form that he could actually see. Not that seeing Lucifer’s true form could kill him here in hell, but it did hurt. He supposed that was rather the point though.


	3. Chapter 3

The next thing Sam knew he was waking up in the panic room at Bobby’s. When he found out that he’d been gone for a year and a half and that death had put a wall in his mind blocking his memories of hell, he just rolled with it. When he found out that his body had been walking around for a year and a half without a soul and the kinds of things he had done, however, he was livid. He managed to get over it though and go on with his life. He survived the wall breaking, Eve, the leviathan, the trials, the angels falling, and through it all he thought about Gabriel. 

Not about whether Gabriel could help them. Not when they were facing odds that seemed insurmountable. He thought about Gabriel when something funny happened, or when some prick had karma visited back on him, or even whenever he passed a bakery. He would occasionally stop in said bakery and indulge his previously non-existent sweet tooth just because it reminded him of the archangel. 

When Cas came to them and told them that he thought Gabriel was alive, Sam’s heart skipped a beat. Dean’s first reaction was, “Well where the hell has he been then?” Dean wanted Gabriel around to be useful. 

“Is he alright? Where is he?” was all Sam asked, getting him a sideways almost glare from his brother. 

“I have reason to believe that Metatron is holding him prisoner,” Cas said matter-of-factly and Sam sucked in a sharp breath. They had just gotten Cas back from the new god, but now he had Gabriel too? 

Dean noticed Sam’s difficulty forming a coherent thought and stifled his groan as he realized that his little brother apparently had a thing for the archdouche. He took over the questioning though. “Maybe you should just tell us what you know Cas.”

“Gabriel came to me in an illusory world. It took me a while to realize that it was an illusion, but when I did, he implied that Metatron was forcing him to do it. I was still unsure if it was his illusion or if it was Metatron’s and he was simply a part of it, but when I found myself back in my motel room, there was a note in my coat pocket with just an address on it. I checked out the address and it is covered with Enochian warding keeping all angels out…or in. Including archangels.”

“Did you ever stop to think that it was just a trap? Maybe it was Metatron’s illusion not Gabriel’s and he’s trying to lure us in there,” Dean pointed out. 

“We have to check it out Dean. If he is there we can’t just leave him,” Sam argued. 

“And if it’s a trap we put ourselves right in Metatron’s hands,” Dean replied. 

“What would he want with us anyway?” Sam asked. “His beef is with the angels.”

“To use us as leverage against Cas of course,” Dean said as if it should be obvious and Sam reluctantly admitted that he had a point. 

Sam did have his own argument to that though. “Dean, he’s essentially the new god. If he can blow out holy fire, I’m sure that finding us despite these marks on our ribs would be like child’s play for him. He could take us anytime he wanted. But if it really is a cry for help from Gabriel…” Sam let the sentence hang. 

“I do believe that it was the real Gabriel,” Cas chimed in again. 

“Why Cas? What makes you so sure?” Sam asked desperately hoping that it would be enough to convince Dean, whatever it was. 

“He didn’t look well. If it was a trick of Metatron’s, then Gabriel would have looked normal.”

“Didn’t look well how?” Sam asked worriedly.

“He was very thin and pale. His eyes were slightly sunken in and had dark marks beneath them. His clothing hung loosely on his body and he seemed tired and weak, though he was covering it well,” Cas explained. 

Sam turned to Dean with a hard look on his face. “I’m going Dean. You can back me up or not, but I’m going.” Sam turned on his heel and went to grab his bag. 

By the time he made it to the car, Dean was there waiting for him. “You think I’m gonna let you walk into something like that without backup you’re nuts. Get in.”

They drove sixteen hours straight through to the address that Cas had given them which turned out to be a storage facility. That explained the extra number underneath the address on Cas’ note. It was nearly midnight when they arrived which was good since it meant the place was deserted. It took the hunters a good hour before they reached the correct storage unit, mostly because Dean was insisting on being overly careful about every step, still not convinced that it wasn’t a trap. 

They got to the right unit only to find that it didn’t even have a lock on it, which just made Dean even more twitchy. It didn’t quite sit right with Sam either, but what else could they do? Sam reached for the door only to jerk his hand back from the scorching hot metal. That was gonna fester. He took off his over-shirt and wrapped it around his hand and quickly snatched the door up, leaning back around the corner as he did so just to be safe. When nothing happened he moved back and looked nervously inside the unit and Sam gasped. “Find a fire extinguisher,” he yelled to Dean as he went off in one direction looking for the same. 

It was a few minutes later before he heard Dean yell, “Got one!” and he ran back to the unit just in time for Dean to meet him there and start spraying the holy fire that was keeping the barely conscious archangel trapped in the center of the box. The second there was a break in the fire, Sam rushed towards Gabriel, who was swaying on his feet but didn’t have enough room to even sit within the circle. As Dean finished putting the rest of the fire out, Sam wrapped his arms around Gabriel and pulled him in for a searing kiss, pouring five years of unexpressed emotions into it. 

Gabriel’s arms wrapped around the hunter’s neck, as much to hold himself up as to hold Sam close, as he just drank in everything that Sam was offering like he’d been starving. When Sam finally pulled back for air, completely missing the roll of his brother’s eyes, Gabriel just smirked at him. “If I’m dreaming, don’t you dare wake me up,” he said wryly. 

Sam just gave a little chuckle. “Come on. Let’s get you out of here,” Sam said as he started to bend at the knees. 

“I swear to my father Samsquatch, if you even think about picking me up and carrying me out of here like some damsel in distress, I will not hesitate to smite you,” Gabriel warned stopping Sam mid-motion. 

Sam blinked at the archangel for a moment, not really sure what to do from here. Gabriel was clearly in no shape to walk on his own and they needed to get out of there before Metatron showed up. At least they could be sure that with the warding the scribe would have to come himself, so it did lessen the danger, but not by much. He was met with a challenging expression from Gabriel as if to say ‘don’t think I won’t do it’. Sam decided on a course of action. He gave Gabriel his best smirk and said, “Well then your highness, I would assume it wouldn’t be beneath you to use us lowly humans as beasts of burden would it?” he joked, lowering himself so that Gabriel could swing an arm around his shoulders for support and motioning Dean to do the same on Gabriel’s other side. 

The older hunter only went along with this because he knew they needed to get out of there. He would make it very clear that he was no one’s ‘beast of burden’ once they were somewhere safe. They managed to make it across the facility and under Gabriel’s direction, remove enough of the warding for Gabriel to cross the barrier back to the car. 

Gabriel let go of the hunters once he was close enough to hold onto the car for support and got in the back only to find Sam already sitting on the other side. He looked a little confused at him. Why wouldn’t he be sitting up front with his brother? Sam anticipated the question though and answered it despite the fact that Gabriel didn’t speak. “I’ve rested in this car often enough to know that it’s much more comfortable with something…or someone…to use as a pillow.” Gabriel just shrugged and took the blatant invitation and lay down with his head in Sam’s lap. 

He was practically purring as Sam ran a hand through the archangel’s soft sandy blonde hair. Sam frowned when he realized how short it was cut. Gabriel never kept his hair this short. That was something to worry about later. “What happened?” Sam asked softly. 

“Metadouche thought it would be nice to have an archangel at his beck and call so once he got all powered up with the stupid tablet…I told dad those were a bad idea in the first place…he decided to resurrect me. I guess he figured I would be easiest to control what with Michael being a control freak, Raphael’s violence issues and Lucifer being…well…Lucifer. He apparently didn’t know me very well if he thought that I would just let someone control me.”

“So he locked you up,” Sam said sadly. 

“Righto. Cept he realized that he can’t write me so well, so he conscripted me to play my part, threatening…” Gabriel trailed off for a moment before he changed tracks. “Making threats to make sure I stayed on script. I still found a way to get a message to Cassie… finally… on my tenth try… and I was hoping you numbskulls would come riding to the rescue.” Gabriel very much wanted to know what that greeting had been all about, but wasn’t going to bring it up with moron number two in the front seat. 

Sam wasn’t sure what he could say to that so he just kept quiet and kept running his fingers through the archangel’s hair. He too, wanted to have a more personal conversation with Gabriel, but not in front of his brother. He suspected they would be driving straight back to Lebanon. Sam had done most of the driving up here, being far too keyed up to sleep, so Dean was relatively well rested and he was understandably jumpy about having the trickster in his precious car.


	4. Chapter 4

“So you said you tried like ten times to tip Cas off before it worked?” Sam asked curiously. 

“Yeah. Either he’s really clueless or he never knew me at all either,” Gabriel said sadly. 

“How so?”

“Well my first attempt was when he asked where I’d been and I told him I’d been hiding in heaven. I mean, come on. Anyone who knows anything about me knows that’s the last place I would ever go. I even referred to it as the ‘safest place in the universe’.”

Sam snorted. “Yeah. You thinking of heaven as a safe place? Not likely.”

“Then I told him I watched Downton Abbey. Like that would interest me in the slightest,” Gabriel said rolling his eyes. 

“I doubt Cas has ever even heard of Downton Abbey,” Sam said wryly. 

“Hmph. Obviously,” Gabriel drawled. “Then I mentioned that Metatron was using the horn of Gabriel. I said that he dug it up, but everyone knows that it’s not an actual horn. It’s more like a sigil and any angel with half a brain knows that it can only be used with a direct connection to my grace.” 

“Watch it,” Dean said annoyed from the front seat. He could handle calling Cas clueless, but calling him brainless was crossing a line as far as the hunter was concerned. 

Gabriel and Sam, of course, ignored him and continued their conversation. “Then I told him that I came out of hiding because there’s safety in numbers. I successfully hid for thousands of years specifically because I was alone. No one found me because no one knew I existed and he actually believed I’d go searching out other people when I was being hunted?”

“Yeah that does seem rather obvious,” Sam said with a shrug.

“Yeah. I thought for sure that one would do the trick, but no. He still didn’t pick up on it. Then I got onto him about driving responsibly. First of all, me? Responsible? And it’s not like a crash could have hurt either of us.”

“You’re kind of the opposite of responsible,” Sam said with a chuckle. 

“Aww. Flatterer,” Gabriel batted his eyelashes at the hunter who just laughed again. “Then I told him I wanted to lead like I was meant to,” Gabriel was cut off by the hysterical laughter coming from both hunters. “See? That’s more like the reaction I was expecting!” Once they had stopped laughing he continued. “From there I started getting a little more heavy-handed and desperate. I referred to cookies as cancer for crying out loud!” 

“And he still didn’t get it?” Sam asked astonished. 

“Nope. So when we got to the point in the script where I was supposed to ‘die heroically so he could escape’…not one for creativity that Metatron…Cas hugged me and I took the opportunity to slip that note with the address in his pocket. I hoped he would find it at some point and realize that something was up.”

“But he did figure it out in the end,” Sam guessed. Cas had implied as much. 

“Yeah. It was the damndest thing too that tipped him off. Apparently he had torn his coat earlier that day and I didn’t add that to the illusion. The one thing that was a complete accident out of all the hints that I was practically screaming at him.”

“Well at least he figured it out,” Sam said attempting to placate the annoyed archangel. 

“That’s definitely a relief. I don’t think I would have lasted much longer and I don’t think Metadouche would have resurrected me again.” 

“Well I’m glad we found you,” Sam said gently as his hand moved down slightly from Gabriel’s hair to stroke his cheek and Gabriel leaned into the touch, closing his eyes as he did so. 

Gabriel lifted his hand to take Sam’s and gave it a squeeze. “Me too, Sam. Me too,” he said completely seriously. 

Gabriel would have loved to get some sleep. He was beyond exhausted despite the fact that angels didn’t generally need to do things such as sleep, but so much of his power had been sapped between the horn and the holy fire that he was fairly close to human at the moment and he would probably need to do things like sleep at least for the next few days. Unfortunately, being trapped in a moving car was very unsettling for him, especially after spending months trapped and essentially tortured in another tiny box. 

Sam didn’t have the same problem though and was soon resting his head against the back of the seat, snoring away. Gabriel somehow managed to pull himself to sitting…barely…and pulled Sam’s head down into his lap. When Sam started to wake up Gabriel just said, “Shh. My turn to be the pillow.” Like Sam before him, Gabriel’s fingers ran through the hunter’s hair as well as he slept and Gabriel absentmindedly wondered if he’d had a haircut at all the last five years. 

By the time they made it back to the bunker, Gabriel was even more drained than he had been before which was saying something. Somehow, with support from Sam, he made it inside the bunker and to the guest room where he collapsed on the bed. “We should probably talk…” Sam said shuffling his feet now that he had the archangel alone. 

“Sleep first,” Gabriel slurred. 

“Right. Of course, “ Sam said sheepishly as he started to leave. 

“Don’t have to go,” Gabriel managed to say. 

“I…um…”

“You can if you want though,” Gabriel said a little more clearly now that it was obvious he had misread the situation and the embarrassment chased away a tiny bit of his exhaustion. 

“No…I don’t…I just…” Sam wasn’t sure if Gabriel wanted him to get in bed with him or sit with him or if he just wanted someone nearby after his ordeal to feel safer. 

Gabriel blinked sleepily at him for a moment, trying to figure out exactly what was going on before he just shrugged. In for a penny, in for a pound. He lifted the blanket in invitation and Sam just kicked off his shoes and jeans and pulled his over-shirt off and slid into bed next to Gabriel wearing his t-shirt and boxers. He couldn’t help the smile that blossomed on his face when Gabriel snuggled against his side, resting his head on the hunter’s chest and let out a contented sigh as he finally managed to pass out. 

Sam lay awake for a long time just holding Gabriel close and breathing in his unique scent of peppermint, chocolate, and ozone. He had slept quite a bit in the car, but he didn’t want to leave Gabriel right now. He couldn’t believe that he had the archangel back. All this time of alternating between dreaming of him and trying to forget about him, sometimes at the same time, and he was here. In Sam’s arms, even. It was a dream come true. It was the answer to a thousand prayers. It was everything. 

 

The next morning, Gabriel woke first, and it took a moment for his sleep-hazy brain to recognize the fact that his pillow was breathing and that there was an arm wrapped tightly around his back, hand on his side, and another arm over top of his own, hand gripping Gabriel’s bicep. It took another moment for him to realize that it was Sam that he was in bed with and he immediately checked for clothes, given his completely hung-over feeling. Not that he would have objected to sleeping with the hunter of course. He just wanted to be able to remember it. His brow furrowed as he realized that he was still completely dressed. It was then that the memories came rushing back, and not just from last night. From the months that he’d spent at Metatron’s mercy too. It had been a long time since he’d been this disoriented after sleeping, but considering that he usually did it for pleasure rather than any actual need and he had been running on fumes when he passed out, he supposed it was to be expected. 

He vaguely remembered Sam wanting to talk last night, but being too tired to even focus on anything. He wasn’t sure how he managed to get the hunter into bed, but he certainly wasn’t complaining. He nestled closer to the hunter, not knowing how much longer he would get to have this and being careful not to wake Sam. It was another hour before Sam started to stir and Gabriel shifted himself so that he was propped up on his elbow watching him. He wasn’t sure how happy Sam would be about his proximity, but the hunter’s tight grip on him was keeping him from going any further unless he wanted to physically dislodge himself. 

Sam blinked awake and looked towards the weight on his arm to find a curious archangel watching him almost warily. Sam grinned at him. “Morning Gabe. How you feeling?” Sam had the almost unbearable urge to taste those sweet lips again, to run his fingers through that sleep tousled hair, to make up for the five years of longing and unanswered prayers, and unrealized dreams, but he knew that they needed to talk first. To figure out what this was and where it was going. Sam needed to know if he was right about what he suspected of Gabriel’s feelings and even if he was, were they still the same after so long. 

“Not a hundred percent yet, but better, thanks,” Gabriel said cheerfully, happy that Sam wasn’t recoiling away from him. He wasn’t sure what had changed to make the hunter so comfortable with his less than complete heterosexuality, much less so open to Gabriel in his bed, and there was still that kiss yesterday. “You wanted to talk?” Maybe he could get some answers.


	5. Chapter 5

“Yeah…um…I…um…what are we doing here?” Sam struggled to find words. 

“Well I was too tired to talk and I invited you to stay and you did,” Gabriel said cheekily. 

Sam rolled his eyes. “No. I mean…with us.”

“You’re the one who kissed me Samsquatch,” Gabriel pointed out. 

“Yeah well…you kissed me first,” Sam replied petulantly. 

Gabriel’s lips twitched as he tried not to laugh. “Five-year-old arguments Sammykins? I would have figured you for at least six.”

“Come on Gabriel,” Sam said wearily. He was all for fun and games, but this was serious. 

“What do you want me to say Sam? I think I made it pretty obvious what I want,” Gabriel told him. 

“Not really. I mean maybe, but you just kissed me said something about not wanting any regrets and wanting your last kiss to mean something and then you went and died on me,” Sam told him. “I’m not sure what you meant by it all.”

It was Gabriel’s turn to roll his eyes. “You’re overthinking things,” Gabriel pointed out. 

“Well in that case I think I made it pretty obvious what I want too,” Sam told him. 

“You mean when your relief from seeing me alive could have thrown all good judgement out of your head?” Gabriel said pointedly. 

“Now who’s overthinking things,” Sam said almost amused, glad that he wasn’t the only one struggling here. 

Gabriel looked at him curiously for a moment before he leaned over and pressed a slow gentle kiss to the hunter’s lips. Sam’s hand moved up to the back of Gabriel’s neck as he kissed the archangel back just as sweetly. When Gabriel pulled back out of the kiss, he smiled warmly at Sam. “See? No need to make things difficult.”

Sam realized then what Gabriel was doing. He was trying to deflect talk of emotions so as not to make himself vulnerable. He had a slightly different way of doing it than Dean did, but it was the same principle. Sam also realized that if he ever wanted to hear the words he would have to say them first. He wasn’t sure if he could go there though. Not now. Not yet. But there was one thing he could do. He pulled Gabriel down for another kiss and the archangel happily allowed it, moving one of his hands over Sam’s chest, just enjoying the feel of the bulging muscles. 

When Sam started to roll him onto his back, the hunter hissed in pain and pulled away from the kiss, causing Gabriel to sit up and look at him curiously. It wasn’t until Sam pulled his now free hand to his chest that Gabriel noticed the burns on it. His eyes softened and he took Sam’s wrist as the hunter watched him inquisitively and he pulled Sam’s hand to his mouth and pressed a soft kiss to his palm, letting his grace flow through his lips, healing the burnt hand. 

Sam gave him a loving smile. “It could have waited until you were back to normal,” he said remembering how Gabriel had said that he wasn’t a hundred percent yet. 

“No. It couldn’t,” was all Gabriel said in response. 

Sam lifted his now healed hand to Gabriel’s cheek, and now he had the answer to his earlier musings. “I love you Gabe,” he whispered nervously. 

Gabriel grinned brightly. “Love you too Sammy,” he chirped leaning back over the hunter for another kiss, suddenly glad that he was an archangel or as tightly as Sam was squeezing him he would have had a few broken ribs. It wasn’t long before Gabriel found himself rolled to his back with the tall hunter looming over him kissing him like there was no tomorrow. 

Sam’s hands slid under Gabriel’s shirts, gliding roughly over the lean muscles he could feel under the archangel’s soft skin as his lips moved over Gabriel’s jaw and down to his neck. 

When Gabriel felt Sam’s erection pressing down against his own he couldn’t help the moan that pulled from him. He hooked his legs around Sam’s and flipped them back over so that he was straddling Sam’s waist and holding the hunter’s arms above his head with a shit-eating grin on his face. He was so going to enjoy this. He leaned back down for another hard kiss, rolling his hips over Sam’s as the hunter lifted up against him looking for more friction. 

When Gabriel let Sam’s arms go, they immediately went to stripping off Gabriel’s over-shirt, leaving his wife-beater underneath. Gabriel started nipping playfully down Sam’s jawline and over his neck as his own hands took to exploring under Sam’s shirt and his hips kept a steady rhythm. He lifted Sam enough to strip off his shirt and followed it with his own as he leaned back down relishing in the feel of their naked chests rubbing together as he nipped and licked all over Sam’s neck and shoulders. 

Gabriel wasn’t sure how much control he had left so he hooked his thumbs in the sides of Sam’s boxers and started to lift himself enough to pull them down when Sam said, “G-Gabriel…wait.” Gabriel didn’t move at all. He really hoped this wasn’t going to end here and he wasn’t moving away unless Sam specifically said to, but he wasn’t going to go any further without permission either. “I…I don’t…I’ve never…” Sam said nervously. 

Gabriel could feel how fast Sam’s heart was beating and how quickly his breaths were coming. He wasn’t sure if it was just from arousal or if there was more to it though. “Do you want to stop?” he asked hoping that Sam wouldn’t say yes. 

“I…um…yeah…if you…um…don’t mind,” Sam stuttered out. 

Gabriel did mind. A lot. But he wasn’t going to go there. He forced his disappointment back behind his mask and almost managed to look completely unaffected as he said, “Kay,” and slid off Sam to lay next to him, keeping enough distance that Sam wouldn’t feel pushed, but close enough that he wouldn’t feel like Gabriel was upset with him. 

Sam felt bad about stopping it. He felt like a tease, but he just wasn’t quite ready to go there yet. He still felt like he needed to apologize somehow, but couldn’t bring himself to say the words. He rolled to his side to kiss Gabriel, but the archangel turned away after a short moment. 

Gabriel didn’t miss the hurt look on Sam’s face when he turned away, and hastened to explain. “I’m not mad. Really. But you gotta give me a minute to get myself under control here kay?” 

Sam blushed brightly realizing what Gabriel was getting at and he rolled onto his back again and reached for Gabriel’s hand, assuming that would be okay. He realized it was when Gabriel lifted it to his lips and kissed it. Once Sam’s own erection was gone he said, “I should probably go find some breakfast or something.”

“Sure thing Sammykins. Go ahead. I’ll catch up with you later,” Gabriel said just trying to get the hunter out of the room. Sam pressed one more short chaste kiss to Gabriel’s lips before getting up and throwing his clothes back on and heading out of the room. 

As soon as the door closed behind Sam, Gabriel’s hands went to his pants and he quickly unbuttoned them and slid them down enough to take his aching cock in his hand, letting out a soft moan as he did so. As his hand slid quickly up and down the shaft he thought about Sam. He could still taste the hunter. Still feel those muscles moving against him. That huge cock of his pressing hard against Gabriel’s own. He imagined what it would taste like. What it would be like to have Sam’s cock in his mouth, the hunter screaming his name in ecstasy as Gabriel’s expert fingers stretched him open. What it would feel like to have his cock engulfed in Sam’s tight ass. It didn’t take long at all for Gabriel to cum over his hand as he panted in relief. He would wait for Sam, but he really hoped it didn’t take too long.


	6. Chapter 6

Sam went into the kitchen to get breakfast only to find Dean already sitting there. His brother looked up as he entered. “So you and the pixie huh?” Dean said with a resigned sort of voice. He knew that he wasn’t going to survive this whole mark and killing Abaddon and he was glad that Sam would have someone to look out for him, even if it did have to be Gabriel of all people. 

“What do you mean?” Sam asked. He didn’t intend to lie to Dean but he wanted to know what he meant. 

“You weren’t in your room. I assumed you were with him. Especially after the way you kissed him yesterday,” Dean pointed out. 

Sam blushed brightly. He had almost forgotten about that. “Right. Yeah. Me and Gabe. Yup,” Sam confirmed nervously. 

“Good,” Dean said with a nod. 

Sam’s jaw dropped. Last he knew, Dean despised Gabriel. Why would he just accept this so easily?

Dean saw the look on Sam’s face and just sighed. “I figure maybe he can pull the stick out of your ass and maybe you can calm him down a little ya know?” 

Sam blinked at him a moment. “So you’re saying you think we’ll what…balance each other out?” 

“Something like that, yeah.”

Sam just shook his head, wondering what the hell was going on here as he went to grab a bowl of cereal. Just as he was sitting down to eat, Gabriel came strolling in like he owned the place. “Morning Sammykins,” the archangel said dropping a kiss on Sam’s lips as he kicked out the chair next to the hunter and plopped into it, putting his feet up on the table. He wasn’t sure if Sam had wanted Dean to know about them, but he refused to be a dirty little secret. Judging by Dean’s lack of explosion Gabriel guessed he’d already either known or suspected. 

Dean just rolled his eyes at the kiss and then shoved Gabriel’s feet off the table. “Dude, feet off the table we eat from. Jesus.”

“Names Gabriel actually. Jesus was a whole other dude,” Gabriel said cheekily. “And I’ll have you know that my feet are far cleaner than those dishes you’re using,” he pointed out pretending to be offended. 

“I don’t care how clean they are, keep them off the kitchen table,” Dean said firmly. 

“Touchy,” Gabriel muttered as he just shrugged and leaned back in the chair, balancing on the back two legs. At least he was right up until Dean reached across the table for the milk and he immediately leaned the chair back forward and snaked out a hand quicker than the eye could see and grabbed the older hunter’s wrist, pulling his arm towards the archangel. Gabriel’s eyes widened as he saw the mark on Dean’s forearm. 

He took a deep breath, attempting to calm himself, which didn’t completely work as he got up from the table, kicking the chair back so hard it shattered against the wall behind him and hissed, “You absolute imbecile!” as he stormed out. If he stayed in that room another minute he would have said something he regretted. So much for thinking he might actually be able to have a somewhat happy family. Wasn’t it enough that he’d had to watch one brother be taken by the mark, now he had to watch his lover’s brother be taken by it too?

Dean blinked at the now vacant place at the table and the shattered chair by the wall. “What the hell was that about?”

“Kinda seemed a little like Cas’ reaction huh? Makes me wonder if Crowley duped you into getting it…oh wait. He’s a demon. Of course he did,” Sam said annoyed. He was still extremely pissed at Dean over his whole friendship with the king of hell. 

“Yeah, well. Means to an end, Sammy. We can worry about getting rid of the mark once I get rid of the bitch.”

“You really think the ‘angels’ would be so pissed about it if it were that easy?” Sam asked incredulously. 

“Oh come on Sam. How much of the crap we’ve done have they said was impossible? This is just one more thing. We’ll figure it out. We always do.”

Sam had to admit that his brother had a point there. “I guess you’re right. I’ll go try and talk to Gabriel,” Sam said finishing his breakfast and putting his bowl in the sink on his way out. 

He found the archangel pacing in the library, fists clenched at his side, jaw set tightly. “Gabe?” he asked nervously. Gabriel stopped moving and turned to look at him, expression softening a fraction. Sam smiled at him, noticing the archangel’s reaction to his presence. “It’ll be okay. We’ll get rid of it once Abaddon is gone.”

“The hell you will,” Gabriel said heatedly. “That mark isn’t going anywhere.”

“We’ll find a way. We always do,” Sam tried to reassure him using Dean’s own words. 

“Even if there were a way…you can’t do it,” Gabriel said trying to calm himself down enough to explain. He knew this was going to take a while and he would need both brothers there. 

“That doesn’t make any sense. If there is a way, then of course we can do it,” Sam said confused. 

Gabriel gave a heavy sigh. “Go get your brother. You two need to understand what this means,” Gabriel said wearily as he plopped into the chair at the head of the table and pinched the bridge of his nose. 

Sam looked at him worriedly for a moment before doing as he asked. He returned with Dean and they took seats to either side of the archangel across the table from each other. “Ok so what does this mean, other than letting me use the first blade to kill a knight of hell,” Dean asked warily. 

“And you didn’t think to ask for anyone’s help against Abaddon? Not even Cassie? He knows that the first blade isn’t the only thing that can kill her. Everyone does, but I’d hardly expect a demon to tell you when they can just get you that…abomination…instead.”

“What do you mean? What else can kill a knight of hell?” Sam asked curiously. 

Gabriel’s response was to pull his blade and set it on the table. “An archangel’s blade can kill almost anything that exists of course. Or did you think a knight of hell was stronger than an archangel?” 

“All the archangels were gone. We didn’t know you were going to come back,” Dean defended himself. 

“Mikey’s and Luci’s blades would be untouchable of course with them in the cage, but when an archangel dies, their blades are stored in heaven’s armory. Raphael’s is there as was mine before I was resurrected. No seraph could wield it because it would reject their grace, but it could have been stolen and lent to a human. You don’t have grace to be rejected.”

“Yeah, except Cas was human and heaven is closed by Metatron,” Dean pointed out. 

“It’s called prioritizing numbskull. Take care of Metatron, reopen heaven, then deal with Abaddon once you get the blade,” Gabriel snapped. 

“And in the meantime, she’s just wreaking havoc? No thanks. It works better to split up like this. Let Cas and the angels worry about Metatron and heaven and We can work on the demon issue,” Dean argued. 

“Well congratulations,” Gabriel sneered. “Because then you’re going ‘be’ the demon issue.” Gabriel got up and started to pace again, managing not to break another chair this time. 

“What the hell do you mean, I’m going to ‘be’ the issue?” Dean asked heatedly.   
Funnily enough, Dean’s anger helped to cool Gabriel’s and the archangel took his seat again. “That mark there Deano? It’s an ancient curse…as well as a lock and key.”

“But curses can be broken right?” Sam asked hopefully. 

“There’s the kicker. You break the curse you release something more than any of us can handle.”

“You always underestimate us. You didn’t think we could handle Lucifer either remember,” Dean told him. 

Gabriel’s eyes narrowed at the arrogant hunter. “Yeah. Great job on that by the way, getting your brother stuck in hell. Bravo,” he said sarcastically. “This isn’t a matter of underestimating you. It took my father and all four of us archangels battling for a millennia just to get this thing locked away in the first place and we barely managed it and in case you haven’t noticed, Luci and Mikey are out of commission, Raphy’s dead, and dear old dad is on siesta. If all of us together barely managed it how the hell do you think you idiots are going to do it.”

Sam gulped audibly. “What…um…what is it?”

“My dear Auntie,” Gabriel said disgustedly.


	7. Chapter 7

“Your…aunt? You mean…” Sam trailed off, brain nearly ready to explode. 

“Yep. Dad’s sister. The destruction to his creation. Pull up a chair fellas and let me tell you the real creation story and the origin of ye old mark,” Gabriel said. 

“We’re already sitting,” Dean said impatiently. 

Gabriel rolled his eyes. Leave it to them to ruin a perfectly good mood. He waved his hands pulling up some illusions. He always used them to tell his stories. Made it more fun that way. He still wasn’t at a hundred percent though so he kept them only a few inches tall. There was a devastatingly beautiful woman and a nondescript man. “How come we can see her so clearly but he’s all muddled?” Sam asked disappointed. 

“It’d be more than my life is worth to show you my father’s face. It’s a really big no-no,” Gabriel told him. 

“Right. Okay,” Sam said sadly. He remembered something about that in the bible now that Gabriel mentioned it. 

“So you’ve heard how in the beginning there was darkness, I assume,” Gabriel waited for the nods before he continued. “Well she was the darkness,” he said as she began to spin slowly in his hand. “Dad had created other worlds before.” Images from other alien worlds began to flash. Images of vaguely humanoid creatures. “Other people” swirling balls of gas clustered together filled the air. “Other galaxies even, but she engulfed them all.” The image of the woman threw out her arms and a dark cloud killed all of the lights in Gabriel’s illusory galaxy. 

“Dad was lonely though, so he thought smaller for a while. He made the four archangels. He kept us close. He protected us from her. Wouldn’t allow her to destroy us.” The image of four small children appeared hiding behind the blurry man as the same dark cloud flew from the woman’s hand only to be stopped by the man. “We were small enough that he could protect us, but she wouldn’t give up. Dad taught us to fight. He made us warriors.” The children now had swords in their hands fighting each other as the man watched on. “And when we were ready, we attacked.” The images showed the five beings attacking the woman, but her being more than a match for them. 

“Where it says in the bible that ‘god said let there be light’? That was a battle that stretched for what would have been millennia had time had any meaning then. Raphael and I nearly died. Michael was gravely injured. In the end, only father and Lucifer were left standing and neither were in very good shape. They managed to get her locked away and dad gave Lucifer the mark to keep her bound. Before she was fully cut off though, she had one last revenge. She twisted the mark into a curse, hoping that someday, someone would take it on who would be desperate enough to get rid of it that they would release her.”

“So this curse. What does it do?” Dean asked nervously. 

“I’m getting there,” Gabriel said waving him off. “It was a long time before we realized what the curse was doing. Now that dear old auntie was locked away, dad was free to create as much as he wanted, including all the little seraphs. None were like us though. We were special and we always would be. He left the raising of the seraphs to us. They were to be our companions, not his. Our first sign that something was wrong was when Lucifer refused to bow to humanity. Lucifer was light. He was compassion and love in its purest form. None of us could believe that he, of all beings, would refuse such a thing. Father was sure that if he only understood the humans he would come around, so he cast Lucifer to earth to live among them, but he corrupted them. He broke them and made them demons. That’s when we knew that the mark was affecting him.”

“So wait…you’re saying this mark turned Lucifer evil?” Sam asked astonished. If it could do such a thing to an archangel what would that mean for Dean?

Gabriel ignored Sam and continued with the story. “We went to Lucifer and pleaded with him to see reason. We told him how the mark was corrupting him and he did see reason. He found a human to give the mark to. I don’t know whether that was selfishness brought on by the curse or whether he just figured that a human could do less damage than he could, but he chose the jealous younger brother, Abel, who had spent a great deal of time plotting revenge against his older brother who he felt got all the attention. Cain found out though and offered himself in his brother’s place and so he took on the mark.”

“Not only did that not undo the damage that had been done to Lucifer, but it turned Cain into a demon as well. One much stronger and more powerful than any other demon. A knight of hell. It was still better than a mad archangel though so Lucifer accepted it. It wasn’t long though before he realized that he could still feel the curse eating away at him. That it was still trying to turn him. I’m sure you all believe that there was some great battle to get Lucifer into the cage.” Gabriel got twin nods at that. “There wasn’t. Lucifer built the cage himself. Put the seals in place himself in case there were ever a cure found, and bade us lock him in there. He was the one who made Michael swear that if he were ever released that Michael would kill him. Michael didn’t want to, but Lucifer made him swear. Michael was the only one who could ever match him in battle.”

“If he didn’t want to then why were they working so hard to let him out?” Sam asked incredulously. 

“I don’t know. I wasn’t there. Maybe Raphy was the one behind it and Michael didn’t know until it was done. Maybe Michael couldn’t bear the thought of Lucifer being trapped down there anymore and realized there was never going to be a cure. I have no idea. But the fact is that if you remove that mark, dear old auntie gets released and destroys every molecule in the entire universe, and if you don’t then you become a knight of hell in your own right. There is no third option, and I will not allow you to release her. No matter what I have to do.”

“Well Lucifer gave Cain the mark and Cain gave it to Dean, so what if Dean just gives it to someone else?” Sam asked hopefully. 

“You want me to put this burden on some other poor sap?” Dean asked incredulously. 

“Wouldn’t matter anyway,” Gabriel interrupted before an argument could start. He knew exactly what Sam’s answer would have been and what Dean’s response to that answer would be. “As long as that mark exists it will destroy any soul that it has ever been in contact with. Even if you had gotten rid of it the second you got it, it would still have you,” he said resignedly. 

“But…Cain fought it. For years. He lived a peaceful life and stopped hurting people for hundreds of years.”

“How?” Gabriel asked with a curious tilt of his head. It shouldn’t have been possible. 

“He fell in love and her memory or something helped him fight it,” Dean said. He honestly hadn’t paid much attention to that part of the story. 

“That makes sense. The curse is based on hate. Love could allow it to be fought. It would never go away though. It would be a constant struggle every day. You would be fighting your nature with every breath you took,” Gabriel warned. 

“Great. So all I need to do is fall in love,” Dean said with a heavy sigh. 

Gabriel snorted amusedly. “No. All you need to do is pull your head out of your ass,” he quipped getting quiet snickers from Sam on his other side. So Sam knew too. 

“What are you talking about?” Dean asked defensively. 

Gabriel turned to Sam. “Is he really that clueless or is he putting us on?” 

“No,” Sam said through his laughter. “He really is that clueless.”

“Damnit someone tell me what you mean,” Dean said getting annoyed now. 

“Cassie you moron. You need to open your eyes and realize that you’re in love with my baby brother,” Gabriel said bluntly. 

“But…I…I’m not…I don’t…” Dean sputtered, wide-eyed. 

“It works out pretty well too. Almost too well really. Almost like dad planned it this way,” Gabriel said narrowing his eyes in suspicion before continuing. “He’ll live forever with you to help keep the curse at bay.”

“But…It’s Cas!” Dean said finally finding words. 

“Yes. It is,” Gabriel said amused. “I thought we already established that.”

“He’s…well…a guy for one thing,” Dean protested. 

“Technically he’s neither male nor female. Angels don’t have genders or didn’t you get that memo,” Gabriel told him, lips twitching in effort not to laugh. 

“Ok fine. So he’s in a male vessel.”

“Wow Deano. Who knew you were so shallow as to let a person’s body repel you,” Gabriel said mock offended. 

“Oh shut it feather-brain,” Dean snapped and Gabriel broke and started laughing. “He’s so…he doesn’t…understand…things like that.”

“Well then it’s a good thing he’ll have such a good teacher,” Gabriel said patting him on the shoulder and grabbing Sam’s hand pulling them both out of the room before Dean blew.


	8. Chapter 8

Gabriel pulled them both around the corner, laughing. “That was…priceless,” Sam gasped.

“I just can’t believe he was really that clueless.”

“Yeah, Dean and feelings don’t go very well together,” Sam said wryly. 

“Well I’m glad I fell for the smart brother then,” Gabriel joked as he pulled Sam in for a kiss. 

“Yes. Very wise of you,” Sam joked back. 

“Ouch. No need to be insulting,” Gabriel said affronted at the very idea of being called wise, sending Sam into another gale of laughter. 

“I have a feeling I’m going to be doing a lot of laughing from now on,” Sam observed.

“Duh,” was all Gabriel said in response. 

By the time they got to the living room, the laughter had passed and Sam was in a far more serious mood. “Seriously though, Gabriel. Thank you.”

“For what, Samsquatch?”

“For kissing me back in that hotel. For…well…opening my eyes for lack of a better term.”

“I almost didn’t,” Gabriel said with a shrug. “But I figured, hey. I’m gonna die anyway. Might as well get at least one item off my bucket list first. I wasn’t expecting anything to come of it, even if I had survived. I was very pleasantly surprised by my greeting when you found me.”

“Yeah well. It was five years coming. You wanted me to be your last kiss, but I wanted to be your first kiss too,” Sam said before blushing when he realized how corny that sounded. 

“Aww well wasn’t that just the sweetest thing ever,” Gabriel chuckled, kissing the hunter so he would know that Gabriel wasn’t teasing him, despite the teasing tone. 

“And if you ever die on me again, I’ll kill you,” Sam said firmly as they separated. 

Gabriel let out a barking laugh. “And there’s my tough little hunter.” Sam sobered at that though as a thought hit him. “What’s wrong?” Gabriel asked tilting his head curiously to the side. 

“I just thought of something. Dean will live forever because of the mark. You and Cas will obviously live forever as angels, so I’m the only one that’s going to die one day.”

“The hell you will,” Gabriel said tersely. Sam looked at him confused. “Once you’re ready, I can bond you to my grace. You’ll live forever along with us. You don’t really think I’d let you go now that I have you do you?”

“Really?” Sam’s face brightened. “What…um…what does that mean exactly?” 

“It basically means that we would be bound together for all of eternity,” Gabriel told him. 

“Well yeah. I could have guessed that part, but how?”

“Think of it like marriage, but far more binding, and without that whole death escape clause. If you mean how does it work, I infuse you with my grace as we’re sleeping together.”

Sam thought about it for a minute before something struck him. “You said when I’m ready. Does that mean that you already are?” 

“Oh, Sammykins, I’ve been dying to make you mine since the day we met. All you gotta do is say the word.”

Sam kissed Gabriel hard and deep as he thought about it. He pulled back and let a small smirk grace his face. “The word,” he whispered. 

Gabriel looked at him hesitantly. “You sure? You were kinda hesitant this morning,” he pointed out. 

“Yeah. Sorry about that. I just…it was going so fast and I didn’t have time to really think about anything. My brain needed a chance to catch up with what was happening,” Sam said sheepishly. Truth was he didn’t want to go there when he wasn’t entirely sure of what it meant to Gabriel, but knowing that Gabriel wanted to bond with him forever…well that changed things. 

Gabriel rolled his eyes. “Never apologize for something like that Sammy,” he admonished the hunter. He had no desire to push anything, physically or otherwise which led him to ask, “Are you sure about this? Really sure? Because there’s no going back once it’s done.”

“I’m positive. I’ve spent the last five years pining for you Gabriel and now I’ve got the chance to have you forever. I’m not gonna pass that up for anything,” Sam told him. 

“That chance isn’t going to go away Sam. The offer will always be open whether we do it today or twenty years from now. You can take some time to think about it,” Gabriel told him. He didn’t want Sam to jump into something he wasn’t ready for. 

“I don’t need time to think about it Gabe. Really. I want this,” Sam assured him. 

Gabriel looked searchingly at the hunter for a moment but couldn’t find any hesitation in him so he just smiled and grabbed Sam’s hand pulling him back to the hunter’s bedroom. “You say stop we stop,” Gabriel told him as he pressed the hunter against the wall and captured his lips in a heated kiss. 

Sam responded eagerly, perfectly willing to let the archangel take the lead since he had no idea what he was doing here and he suspected that Gabriel had been with plenty of men before. His breath caught as the archangel nipped his way playfully down Sam’s jaw and neck as he was slowly unbuttoning Sam’s shirt. Gabriel was just wearing a simple t-shirt today and Sam slid his hands up underneath Gabriel’s shirt feeling the lean muscle rippling just beneath his skin with every movement Gabriel made. 

Once Gabriel slid the hunter’s over-shirt off his shoulders, he pulled his own shirt off, giving Sam much better access to his skin and he wasted no time taking advantage of it. Gabriel then turned his attention back to Sam’s shirt and stripped it over his head as well, pressing himself tightly against the taller man, moaning at the skin contact and the feel of Sam’s erection against his own. Gabriel turned them around and started backing Sam towards the bed, hoping with everything he had that Sam wasn’t going to stop him again this time. 

Once Sam’s back hit the bed, he pulled Gabriel back over him impatiently. Now that he’d had a chance to think things through, he wanted this. Badly. When Gabriel straddled him and rolled his hips down Sam moaned and moved one of his hands to the archangel’s ass. 

That was all the encouragement Gabriel needed to get this show on the road. He started moving his lips down over Sam’s collarbones and then continued lower, delighting in the reaction he got when he flicked the hunter’s nipple with his tongue. He spent a few minutes teasing over them with his mouth and hands before continuing his downward trek. Once he was dipping his tongue in Sam’s belly button his hands moved to Sam’s pants and he paused there for a moment, giving Sam a chance to stop him. 

When he didn’t, Gabriel gave a sigh of relief and wasted no time undoing them and sliding them off, taking the opportunity to remove his own as well. He quickly returned to his position, holding his mouth over Sam’s hard cock, breath ghosting over it, waiting to make sure that Sam really was okay with this. When the hunter gave a little whimper and thrust his hips up, causing his erection to bump the archangel’s lips, smearing a little pre-cum there, Gabriel took that as an open invitation. He licked lightly over the tip, pulling a shudder from Sam, before swirling his tongue around and then swallowing him all the way down as Sam gave a gasping moan. 

Sam couldn’t believe that Gabriel could take him all the way down. He was amazed at the archangel’s skills, and could tell that Gabriel was carefully keeping him away from the edge, even as the pleasure built to unimaginable heights. He didn’t even notice the slick finger probing his entrance until after it slipped in and then he had a whole new sensation to add to it as the archangel went straight for the sweet spot and Sam arched up off the bed, hand tangling tightly in Gabriel’s hair pressing him down harder. “Oh…god…G-Gabriel.”

“Mmm,” Gabriel hummed approvingly over the cock in his mouth knowing that the vibrations would drive Sam even higher as he continued working to stretch the hunter out. By the time he was able to insert the second finger, he was having trouble holding himself back, but he wasn’t about to risk hurting Sam and make him more hesitant to do this in the future. By the time the third finger was sliding in, Sam was babbling unintelligibly and Gabriel couldn’t possibly wait anymore. He gave a few hard thrusts with his fingers before removing both them and his mouth and lining himself up with Sam’s entrance. 

Gabriel began pressing in slowly, letting out a low moan at the tight heat engulfing him. By the time he was all the way in, he was panting from the effort of holding back, but forced himself to do so a little longer as he leaned down to kiss the hunter and give him a chance to adjust. 

Sam had known ever since he’d felt Gabriel pressed against him earlier that morning that the archangel had an impressive sized cock, but feeling it filling him up so completely was a whole different story. It felt incredible, but still a little strange so he was glad Gabriel was giving him a minute. Once Sam had gotten used to it, he anchored his legs behind Gabriel and pulled himself up slightly, pulling Gabriel even deeper in and the archangel got the hint to start moving. 

Gabriel went slowly at first, wanting to take his time, but Sam would have none of that. “Please…Gabe…h-harder…faster…fuck…” Gabriel didn’t have the strength to not obey and he slung Sam’s legs over his shoulders, lifting the hunter up to get better leverage as he started slamming himself in as deep and hard as he possibly could. Sam’s hands moved to the wall behind him to brace himself against the archangel’s thrusts and Gabriel could feel himself getting too close to that edge far sooner than he would have liked, but there was no pulling back now. 

Gabriel shifted his angle slightly so that he was hitting Sam’s prostate with every thrust as the hunter cried out in ecstasy, even before Gabriel reached down and started stroking Sam, timing the twists to the tip perfectly with the high point of his thrusts. Just before Gabriel tipped over the edge, he moved his free hand to the hunter’s chest and released his grace as he cried out and slammed hard and deep one last time spilling himself inside Sam. 

Between the sensation of the grace flooding his soul, the cum filling his ass, the pressure on his prostate and Gabriel’s hand on his cock, the most intense orgasm Sam had ever experienced washed over him. Gabriel just collapsed on top of him, both of them panting for breath. Gabriel didn’t even have the composure necessary to snap his fingers and clean them up at that particular moment. It was a good few minutes before Sam was able to form words and then all he said was, “Holy…fuck.”

“Literally,” Gabriel replied cheekily, earning him a swat from the hunter and a chuckle from both of them. 

When Sam looked down at Gabriel he caught sight of something else and eased the archangel’s head to the side so he could see it better. “What’s that?” he asked curiously pointing out the glimmering gold sigil just over his heart, nestled underneath the anti-posession tattoo.

“That’s my name in Enochian. It means that you’re mine,” Gabriel said pressing a kiss to it before rolling himself off the hunter with some effort. “I have one too. It’s your name in Enochian.” Gabriel said pointing out the light brown sigil over his own heart. 

“So you’re mine too,” Sam said completely unnecessarily. 

“Obviously,” Gabriel rolled his eyes, realizing that the hunter wanted to protest being owned by anyone and needed it made plain that Gabriel was just as much his as he was Gabriel’s. 

“I love you Gabriel,” Sam said pulling Gabriel close to his side. 

“And I love you my Samshine,” Gabriel told him as he settled in contentedly.


	9. Chapter 9

When Sam and Gabriel finally managed to pull themselves out of bed and get dressed, which for Gabriel was as simple as snapping his fingers, they made their way to the kitchen for lunch. Well, lunch for Sam and a snapped up chocolate cake for Gabriel. They found Dean already sitting there, eating a sandwich. “Cas’ll be here in a few hours,” Dean told them. 

“Oh really,” Gabriel said waggling his eyebrows suggestively. 

Dean just glared at him. “I told him we found you and he’s coming to see with his own eyes that you’re alright.”

“Of course. I’m sure his overwhelming need to see that I’m okay after I’m sure you told him I was is the primary reason for his visit,” Gabriel said sarcastically. 

“Anyway,” Dean said changing the subject. “I’m guessing since you brought it up you’d be willing to loan us your blade to take down Abaddon.”

“Not a chance,” Gabriel said. “Gimme a couple days to get back to a hundred percent and I’ll get rid of her myself. Which brings up another subject. You can’t hunt anymore.” 

“The hell I can’t,” Dean said heatedly. 

“The more violence you’re exposed to, the quicker that mark will take you and then nothing will save you, not even Cassie,” Gabriel tried to reason with him. 

“So I’m just supposed to let the world go to hell and not even try to help?” Dean asked incredulously. 

“Yeah because you’re the only hunter on the planet,” Gabriel sniped. “Let someone else carry the load. You’ve done your part. Both of you have. You keep trying to fix it you’ll become the thing they’re hunting next,” Gabriel said bluntly. 

Dean shoved the remainder of his sandwich away and stormed from the room. He couldn’t believe he’d been stupid enough to trust that slimy Crowley. He’d gone and gotten himself cursed and for nothing. Worse than nothing. Not only could he not carry out the mission that had been the whole purpose of all this in the first place, but now he was being benched for eternity. He would never be able to help anyone again. 

“He’ll come around,” Sam assured Gabriel. 

“Good. Because I’ve already watched one brother fall to this curse. I won’t watch another one do the same.”

Sam’s lips twitched into an almost smile at the fact that Gabriel thought of Dean as a brother. Though Sam supposed that if Dean ever got his head out of his ass concerning Cas, they would be brothers-in-law twice over. 

 

Dean was still sulking when Cas arrived a couple hours later. He found Sam and Gabriel leaning over the map in the center of the control room, Sam trying to show Gabriel how it worked. “Cassie!” Gabriel exclaimed turning to meet his brother. 

“Gabriel. You look well. I am relieved,” Cas said stiffly. 

Gabriel rolled his eyes. “What so your big brother only gets a hug when he’s dying?” Gabriel teased. 

Cas stepped forward and hugged Gabriel rather awkwardly at first, not sure whether the archangel was making fun of him or not, but when he was met with a warm hug in return, he relaxed into it. Cas pulled back and looked at Gabriel curiously before looking between him and Sam a few times. “You bonded to Sam?” he asked astonished.

“You what? What does that mean?” Dean asked as he walked into the room. 

“How did you know?” Sam asked Cas at the same time. 

“Cas knows because he can sense the link between my grace and your soul,” Gabriel answered his bonded first. “It’s kinda like marriage,” he answered Dean. He didn’t go into how much more serious it was than marriage because he didn’t want to set the hunter off, and a quick look to Cas clued the seraph in as well. 

“So I wasn’t even invited to the wedding?” Dean asked, half-joking. 

“Well given that it has to be done during sex, I figured you’d rather skip it,” Gabriel said with a smirk.

“Gabriel!” Sam exclaimed smacking the archangel on the arm. 

“Yeah. Way more than I needed to know,” Dean shook his head in an attempt to remove those images from his mind. 

Cas decided to change the subject. “I’m glad you’re well again brother. We could really use your help.”

Gabriel looked sharply at the seraph. “If you’ll excuse us, baby brother and I need to have a little chat.” Gabriel grabbed Cas’ arm and they disappeared. 

“Well it looks like Gabe still has his wings at least,” Dean said annoyed. 

“Probably because he was resurrected after the fall,” Sam guessed. 

 

Cas and Gabriel reappeared on a deserted mountaintop covered in snow. “You haven’t told anyone that I’m alive have you?”

“Not yet,” Cas said confused. “But I thought you wanted…” 

“That was all a load of crap. I want nothing to do with heaven or angels. Other than you, of course,” Gabriel clarified. 

“So you will leave us to our fate?” Cas asked appalled. 

“I should. Every single one of them deserve it. Maybe it’ll teach them something,” Gabriel said bitterly. He couldn’t even say that Cas didn’t deserve it. After the Leviathan and how easily he was duped by Metatron, he’d caused just as much damage. But Cas seemed to have learned something at least. The others hadn’t. Not really. Still, “I will help take out Metatron. Help you and Sam that is. No one else is to know I exist. I will also tell you how to get back into heaven without wings once Metatron is gone, but I will never step foot there again myself. Understand?” 

“Why just me and Sam? Why not Dean?” Cas asked curiously. 

“Dean is benched. That little curse on his arm doesn’t need any more fuel and the more violence he’s around the worse it gets. Once we’re done with this, he’s gonna need you around a lot more too.”

“Why would he need me around?” Cas asked curiously. 

“Apparently he learned from Cain that love can help to keep the curse at bay,” Gabriel said smugly. He had no qualms being the one to drop the bomb on his baby brother.

“That does not answer my question Gabriel,” Cas said pointedly. 

“Oh for the love of father. You’re that clueless too?” Gabriel said wearily. “Ok here’s the deal. You love Dean. Dean loves you. It’s painfully obvious to everyone except apparently you two. Now deal with it.”

Cas continued looking confused. “How do I ‘deal with it’ as you say?” 

Gabriel’s smirk widened. He knew just how to fix this and if Deano hurt his baby brother Gabriel wouldn’t hesitate to teach him a lesson. “When we get back, just go find him and kiss him.”

“I see. And you are sure this is the best course of action?” Cas asked hesitantly. 

“I can’t promise he’ll react well, but it will at least get him thinking and once he starts thinking he’ll come back for more. That’s how I got Sammy after all.”

“I am unsure if I know how to kiss someone,” Cas said nervously. When he had been with April, she had done all the work after all. He had been mostly lost.

Gabriel rolled his eyes and pulled Cas in for a searing kiss. He was sure Sammy would forgive him one little kiss for a good cause with someone he obviously wasn’t the slightest bit interested in. It only lasted a few seconds before Gabriel pulled back. “No, no, no. You gotta relax a little more…a lot more. Like this,” he said pulling Cas in again and this time Cas participated a little better and Gabriel had to admit his little brother was a quick learner. This time it was a long time before they parted. Until Gabriel was sure that Cas had the hang of it. “There you go. Kiss him like that.”

“I…um…thank you brother,” Cas said a little uncomfortably. 

“No worries. Any other tutorials you’ll have to get from Deano though,” Gabriel said smugly. “Oh and wait until you’re alone with him. He’ll definitely react badly if you do it in front of me or Sammy,” Gabriel added. He might have to be a fly on the wall for it though. 

“You can’t remove the mark from Dean?” Cas asked realizing that Gabriel had just been talking about fighting the mark but not removing it. 

Gabriel had forgotten that the seraphs didn’t really know about the origin of the mark. Just what it had done to Lucifer. “I can’t. Not without destroying the entire universe, us included.” Gabriel told him. When Cas asked for more of an explanation, Gabriel told him the story of the mark’s origin and Cas nodded sadly. 

“So anything else or we good to go back?” Gabriel asked. 

“Do you have a plan for going against Metatron?” Cas asked. 

“Not yet, no. I figure we’ll loop the kiddies in on that part.”

“Then we should go back,” Cas said. 

 

They arrived back to find Sam and Dean in the library. “I’m gonna whisk Sammy here away for a little while,” Gabriel said grabbing Sam’s hand and pulling him out of the room. As soon as they rounded the corner Gabriel whispered, “I’ll explain later,” gave Sam a quick kiss and disappeared again, reappearing back in the library as a literal fly on the wall, just in time to see Cas go for it. The seraph grabbed the back of Dean’s neck and pulled him in for a hard deep kiss. Gabriel could see the hunter freeze for a minute and then he was kissing Cas back and before they knew it, the angel’s back was against the wall, Dean pressed tightly against him. Gabriel reappeared back next to Sam, not needing to see any more and resuming his original form. “Might want to avoid the library for the rest of the night.” 

“Why? What are you up to?” Sam asked suspiciously. 

“I might have given Cassie a little push in the right direction, and apparently that was all Deano needed to take matters into his own hands. I left before the clothes started coming off, but I don’t doubt that’s where it’s headed,” Gabriel said proud of himself. 

“You mean…they…in the library?!” Sam groaned. “You better disinfect it when their done…and fix anything they break.”

“Sure thing Samshine,” Gabriel happily agreed, before bringing up the other subject. He didn’t think it was a big deal, but Sam should still probably know anyway so he didn’t feel like it was kept from him if it ever came up. “So incidentally, I ended up giving Cassie a little tutorial on kissing too. Don’t worry though. I told him any future tutorials would have to come from his boy toy, but he never would have gotten Dean kissing him like a cold fish.”

Sam’s mouth opened and closed for a few minutes as he turned that over in his mind. Did he mean… “You mean you and Cas kissed?” 

“Yep. Didn’t think it’d bother you since it was for a good cause and obviously I’m not interested in Cas in the slightest, but figured you should still know about it.”

“I…um…okay…well…thanks for telling me?” Sam half asked not really sure what he thought about it. “Just…um…don’t do it again?” 

“No worries. You three are the only ones I care enough about to bother trying to help and they can help each other now so it won’t even come up again,” Gabriel said with a shrug. That was an easy enough promise to make. 

“Ok. Good,” Sam said. He wasn’t going to make a big issue over something that was already over and done with. Gabriel did have a point after all, and he fully trusted the archangel when he said that it wouldn’t happen again.


	10. Chapter 10

The next morning, the four of them met up in the kitchen for breakfast. “So Cas says you’re gonna help with Metatron too?” Dean asked surprised that the archangel was willing to help with one of their problems, let alone both. 

“I am. Did he tell you the rest of the deal?” Gabriel asked. 

“Yeah, no one outside of us knows you exist and we’re the only ones you work with. You’ll get no argument from me,” Dean told him. 

“Good. So let’s figure out how we’re going to do this,” Gabriel said. 

“Do you have any idea how to take him down?” Sam asked since they had a total of squat on the subject. 

“Just gotta get rid of the tablet,” Gabriel said with a shrug. “Then he’ll be back to a regular seraph and I can handle him easily.”

“Ok so how do we get to the tablet? Where does he keep it?” Sam asked.

“I would guess he keeps it in that ridiculous typewriter of his, given how he always types everything on it to make it happen,” Gabriel said with a shrug. “The question is how to get him out of his office long enough for me to get to it.”

“Well he has no desire to meet up with any of us and I doubt capturing Gadreel to lure him out will work a second time,” Dean said. 

“I guess we’ll just have to hope we get lucky. I bugged his office so I’ll know if he happens to leave so we’ll just cross our fingers and I’ll be ready to go on a moment’s notice,” Gabriel shrugged again realizing that nothing helpful was going to be figured out here. He’d hoped that someone would have an idea, but obviously they were as much at a loss as he was. “In the meantime, I’ll head out after breakfast and take care of our other nuisance.”

“You are helping with Abaddon as well, brother?” Cas asked amazed. 

“Yep and as soon as all this is settled, the four of us are taking a nice long vacation on my island. The sooner I can get rid of all the unfinished business, the sooner we can get down to that,” Gabriel said firmly inviting no argument from anyone. He scooped up the last bite of his cake, kissed his bonded, and disappeared. 

It was nearly an hour before he reappeared, looking a little worse for wear, but no obvious injuries. “Are you okay?” Sam asked. 

At the same time Dean asked, “Did you get her?” 

“Yes and Yes. I had forgotten how strong the knights were, but she’s gone and I’m just a bit drained. One down, one to go, and now it’s a waiting game.”

It was nearly a week later before Gabriel woke Sam in the early morning. “Metatron’s out of his office. I’m gonna go take care of it. I’ll be back later,” he whispered. 

“mkay. Be careful Gabe. Love you,” Sam slurred. 

“Love you too Samshine,” he whispered back and pressed a short kiss to the hunter’s lips and disappeared right from the bed. 

It took him far longer than he was comfortable with to figure out how to get past Metatron’s warding on the typewriter to get it open, but true to his suspicions the tablet was there. He dropped it to the ground where it shattered and he then proceeded to finish job and scatter the molecules to the far corners of creation so that no prophet could ever be in close enough vicinity to all the pieces to reform it. 

That done he headed out searching for the little weasel. He found him in what looked to be a homeless camp being fawned over by dirty and diseased humans and he curled his nose. It only took him a moment to realize that he had healed some guy and that’s why they all loved him. He reappeared behind ‘Marv’ and held his blade to the seraph’s neck and turned to the people who were looking at him like they wanted to kill him. The last thing he wanted to do was to make a martyr of the slimy snake so he addressed them. “This man is a pretender,” he said loudly and firmly only to be met with an uproar. 

Gabriel snapped his fingers and stole all their voices. “Does it really only take such pathetic parlor tricks to impress you people? This man betrayed all of heaven and stole power that didn’t belong to him and now he is being brought to justice. Gabriel waved his hand. “Now ALL of you are healed from whatever ailments you’ve suffered.” He waved his hand again and a gleaming building appeared behind him. “And now you may all go choose an apartment, and maybe next time you won’t be so quick to trust a snake with fancy words and tricks,” Gabriel sneered as he and Metatron disappeared from the spot. He deliberately used the snake reference knowing that most people associated that with Lucifer and hoped they would think of Metatron in the same light. Perhaps even as the reincarnation of Lucifer. It would fit well with his plans. 

They reappeared in a dirty alley around the corner. “Gabriel. Please. Don’t kill me,” the seraph pleaded. 

“I have no intention to kill any of my brothers or sisters,” Gabriel said as he ran his blade over the angel’s throat, just deep enough to extract his grace. “And before you forget that I ever existed, I just want you to know that I think you are a slimy little weasel who forgot his place a long time ago. You were never worth an ounce of the attention you got from father. You were a mistake from the moment you were created and we all would have been better off if you never existed.” Gabriel waited a few moments for that to sink into the now weeping man’s head before he snapped his fingers once more, erasing Metatron’s memories of him, of heaven, of being an angel, and of anything except being Marv. He would be treated as if he had amnesia by the humans. 

Gabriel made one more quick stop before he reappeared back in bed next to Sam who was just now starting to wake. “You’re back. Or did I just dream you leaving?” Sam asked still sleepy enough to be confused. 

“I’m back, and Metatron is handled,” Gabriel told him. 

“Great. Let’s go tell the others the good news,” Sam said cheerfully. 

After telling Dean and Cas that Metatron had been ‘taken care of’, Cas’ first question was, “Did you kill him?”

“I did not. I have never nor will I ever kill any of my brothers or sisters. I took his grace and wiped his memory. He is now just a random human with amnesia. Don’t worry though Cassie. Before I wiped his memory, I probed it to find out where he hid this,” Gabriel said as he tossed a vial over to the weakening seraph. 

“My grace,” Cas said holding the vial gingerly, much like one would hold an infant. 

“Yup. You humans might wanna take a walk,” Gabriel suggested and once they were out of the room he managed to get Cas’ attention. “You gonna take it back or not?” Gabriel asked confused. 

“I don’t know that I deserve it,” Cas said sadly. 

“Regardless of whether you deserve it or not, you need it. How are you supposed to keep Deano from falling off the edge if you die when that stolen grace of yours burns out? I say take it, help the angels get home then do a runner like I did. I can help you hide, and you need never burden yourself with any of that again, because you know if you get involved in the politics again then so will Dean, and then he risks getting pulled under with the mark.”

Cas nodded and took a deep breath. He noticed that Gabriel didn’t tell him that he still deserved to be an angel, and thought that was fair, but Gabriel was right that he needed to be. And that he needed to leave heaven behind. For Dean’s sake. He popped the lid off the jar and the room lit up brightly as his grace flowed back into him. Once it was done, he felt able to address the other elephant in the room. “You don’t think I deserve to still be an angel either do you brother?”

Gabriel did his best to keep his judgment out of his tone despite that being one of his primary jobs as archangel. “You killed how many of our family and you still ask me that question? I have forgiven you Castiel, as a brother should when one is truly repentant, but that only goes so far.”

“I understand,” Cas said sadly. 

Gabriel stepped up to him and lifted Cas’ head by means of a finger under his chin. It had been a long time since he’d had occasion to comfort one of the young ones. “You made mistakes, Cassie. We all have. I don’t love you any less for it,” he said pressing a gentle kiss to the seraph’s forehead. “For what it’s worth, I don’t think I deserve to be an angel anymore either, I’m just too selfish to give it up,” he said honestly, but trying to lighten the mood. “Now here’s the way to get the angel’s back to heaven. Go give it to someone who will use it, and come back here. I’ll get our humans packing and then we can go make a new life for ourselves on a nice tropical island and put all this behind us hmm?”


End file.
